About us
was born in Barcelona, studied arts, and ended up in Japan thanks to her university's exchange program. She practices Japanese archery, and had never sail until she met Tyler. She worked in Osaka as an art teacher until moving to Kito with Tyler. All the artwork you see in this web, she made!
Julia
was born in Los Angeles, California, where he was introduced to sailing by his dad. He studied electrical engineering, and ended up in Japan teaching swimming in Okinawa. Now works as a videographer in Kito. All the pics you'll see in this web, he took!
Tyler
Our first date was on a Columbia 42 sailboat.
And our goal, to sail across the pacific.
Julia
Black marker on paper, 2021
About the journey
A voyage of 2,600 km
Our plan is to take the southern route,
departing California in December 2024
and arriving Japan in June 2025.
On the way, we plan to stop in as many islands as possible, acting as ambassadors of Kito Yuzu.
What is Kito Yuzu?
The wind behind our sails
We live in Kito, a small and remote rural town tucked in the southern island of Shikkoku, Japan.
Tyler works there as a videographer for Mr. Fujita, a man born in Kito devoted to revitalizing the town and with the dream to introduce Kito Yuzu to the world.
Yuzu is a fragrant citrus, quite different from lemon or lime.
As it tuns out, Kito features the perfect environment to grow the best Yuzu in Japan.
So we thought: why not combine both our dreams and make of this a sailing journey with the goal to introduce Kito Yuzu to the world?
And that's exactly what we are set to do.
One of our goals is to find people interested
in partnering with us to introduce Kito Yuzu and its story in the U.S.
Feel free to contact us anytime.
About Kito (木頭村)
Our home in rural Japan
The Naka river, curving its way through the calm village landscape, holds the history of carrying Kito Cedar downstream. But since the cedar business slowed down, the town population has been fading with it, eventually resulting in the half forgotten treasure Kito has become today.
But through the effort of Kito villagers, a different tree has spread its roots in the soil. In the last 50 years Kito has started a full scale cultivation of the Yuzu citrus, producing fruit of excellent quality earning its 'golden village' reputation.
About the sailboat
SV Ramona Rae is a 1980 Ingrid 38.
She is hull #125 of about 140 fiberglass Ingrid’s produced from 1971 until the mid 80’s.
It's a double ender, full keel sailboat with a design inspired by viking rescue boats.
This sailboat's original owners sailed with their family all over the Pacific.
The husband was very meticulous about the boat, sparing no expense during its several year refit.
Sadly, before he could once again set sail, he passed away.
His wife, hoping someone in the family would continue her legacy, held onto the boat for another 10 years.
We were very moved by the history of this Ingrid, and by how much care and effort it had been poured into her.
We could sense a yet to be fulfilled promise of adventure waiting for her, and we felt we can be the ones to take her across the pacific.
Why "SV Ramona Rae"?
Ramona Rae Moloski is Tyler's grandmother. His family calls her Babci. Although Tyler has lived in Japan over 10 years, they remained very close. Babci was always big influence in his life,